Modern Makers: Last day of making!

On our final day of modern makers we got to help out firing our pots in the wood kiln. The weather was beautiful and so it was a lovely day in the sunshine. 

Andy Priestman came over and we fired the pinch pots we had made at his studio and those made at Ruth's, in the raku kiln. The raku kiln was built from an old metal bin. We decorated our pots and placed them in the kiln. When they appeared to be glowing hot, around 700 degrees Celsius, we pick them out with long tongs and tossed them in sawdust and leaves, to smother them of oxygen. We were trying to create a reduction atmosphere, which turns copper carbonate from green to red and red iron oxide from red to a silvery colour. After a few minutes in the sawdust, we put them in a bucket of water to finish the chemical reaction and stop the pots from re-oxygenising. After a scrub with some wire wool some beautiful colours were revealed. 

 Supported by: The LEADER Programme 2014 – 2020